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Paper short abstract

Climate change impacts in the Indian Himalayas are shaping environmental and livelihood challenges to women. Drawing from ethnographic case studies, this paper aims to provide an alternative to the narrative of women as victims of climate change and presents women as solution-oriented change makers.

Paper long abstract

Climate change in the Indian Himalayan region is a lived reality which is evident in erratic rainfall and drying springs, leading to erosion of livelihoods, abandoned agricultural fields, and intensified rural out-migration. These climatic challenges have posed both environmental and livelihood challenges to mountain women. Based on qualitative empirical case studies from multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in the Garhwal Himalayas (Uttarakhand, India), this paper focuses on women’s lived experiences and practices at Marorra Forest Farm and Uffrainkhal’s community forest. It follows a qualitative approach, which involves participant observation, semi-structured life-history interviews, and focus group discussions, with women’s experiences of collective adaptation strategies.

The analysis adopts the framework of Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) and a climate justice lens to comprehend women's collective efforts in the Garhwal Himalayas. It narrates transformative women-led initiatives at Marorra in regenerative farming, forest management, and creating sustainable livelihoods, complemented by the case from forests of Uffrainkhal as a historically initiated ‘forests of water’, whose long-term benefits from afforestation, groundwater recharge, and water security are collectively experienced and narrated by local communities even decades later. This paper illustrates the role of women through their practices in the forests and farms, which shape access, control over resources, and local decision-making. Further, it aims to provide an alternative to the prevailing dominant narrative of women as victims of climate change and presents women as solution-oriented change makers. The findings contribute to broader debates on gender-climate nexus, nature-based solutions, and climate justice derived from women's ecological awareness, ecological labour, and knowledge.